‘Star Wars’ sales surge toward opening weekend record

Star Wars The Force Awakens hurtled toward Dollars 120 million at the United States and Canadian box office on Friday and a potential record-breaking USD 215 million through Sunday, giving the long-awaited movie a shot at the biggest opening weekend of all time.

Force Awakens surpassed the previous opening day record of $US43.5 million set in 2011 by the final instalment in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. The Force Awakens shattered its first record with advanced ticket sales, reportedly selling eight times as many tickets than the previous record holder, The Hunger Games, to the tune of million.

J.J. Abrams’ seventh chapter in George Lucas’s space saga arrived with the kind of hoopla and anticipation that few films have ever matched. Disney said theaters were adding showtimes to meet “unprecedented demand”.

Interest extended to worldwide markets, where the movie brought in Dollars 72.7 million in 44 countries. “The Force Awakens” is simultaneously opening around the world just about everywhere but China, where it debuts in January.

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” was released on more screens than any other film this month, playing in over 4,000 theaters nationwide, according to Disney.

3-D screening accounted for 47% of the night’s grosses on Thursday. The preview night also broke the IMAX tickets record set by Avengers: Age of Ultron earlier this year, with $5.7 million. The American Film Institute listed it among its top 10 films of the year. Whether “The Force Awakens” can come close to the global hauls of those films ($2.8 billion for “Avatar” and $2.2 billion for “Titanic“) won’t be clear for weeks. First lady Michelle Obama hosted a screening for children of families that lost members to war.

Disney did release an official Star Wars app that covers the entire movie universe.